AN UNEXPECTED GIFT

“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free Thine own from Satan’s tyranny; From depths of hell Thy people save, And give them victory o’er the grave.

“Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, And death’s dark shadows put to flight.”

Here death is not named, but it is defeated by the presence of Emmanuel—God with us.

“Hark! the Herald Angels Sing”

Written by Charles Wesley (1739), this hymn moves far beyond the manger and declares why Christ was born—to conquer sin and death.

The Key Line

“Born that man no more may die, Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second birth.”

This is resurrection language—power over the grave stated plainly. Wesley compresses John 11, 1 Corinthians 15, and John 3 into three lines of Incarnational theology.

the song that recognizes the Messiah not simply as the Child of Bethlehem, but as the Conqueror of Death foretold by the prophets.

What do we do when heaven seems to hesitate—not from uncertainty, or a lack of will, but from purpose. John chapter eleven opens with such a pause. A man is sick; the message is sent; the answer is delayed. And in that delay, the whole drama of faith, grief, and glory is drawn into sharp relief.

Bethany lay scarcely two miles from Jerusalem, a quiet village resting on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives. It was a place familiar to our Lord—not merely a stopping point, but a refuge. Here lived Lazarus, with his sisters Martha and Mary, a household where Jesus was not only Teacher and Messiah, but Friend.

Edersheim reminds us that this was no chance acquaintance;

it was a home bound to Him by affection, hospitality, and trust. And it is precisely here—among those He loved—that the sharpest trial is allowed to fall.

The message they send is disarmingly simple: “Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.” 

There is no argument, no demand—only confidence that love itself is reason enough. Yet the astonishing thing is not that Lazarus dies, but that Jesus remains where He is. Love does not hurry. Divine compassion is never in haste, though it may appear, to our grief-stricken hearts, to be late.

C. S. Lewis once observed that God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain. John 11 is such a shout—not of cruelty, but of revelation. Here death is not merely an enemy to be defeated, but a stage upon which the glory of God will stand unmistakably revealed. “This sickness is not unto death,” Jesus says—meaning not that death will not occur, but that it will not have the final word.

And so we are invited, as readers and hearers, to stand in the tension of this chapter:

between faith and sight, between tears and triumph, between the sealed tomb and the living Christ who stands before it.

For John 11 does not merely ask whether Jesus can raise the dead—it presses the deeper question: Do we believe Him when He does not act as we expect?

This is not simply a miracle account. It is a revelation of the heart of God—who weeps with the mourners, confronts the tyrant death, and calls forth life with a voice that still commands the grave.

The raising of Lazarus from the dead was not our Lord's last miracle before the cross, but it was certainly His greatest and the one that aroused the most response from both His friends and His

enemies. John selected this miracle as the seventh in the series recorded in his book because it was really the climactic miracle of our Lord's earthly ministry. He had raised others from the dead, but Lazarus had been in the grave four days. It was a miracle that could not be denied or avoided by the Jewish leaders.

If Jesus Christ can do nothing about death, then whatever else He can do amounts to nothing. "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable" (1 Cor. 15:19). Death is man's last enemy

(1 Cor. 15:26), but Jesus Christ has defeated this horrible enemy totally and permanendy.

The emphasis in John 11 is on faith; you find some form of the word believe at least cight times in this account. Another theme is "the glory of God" John 11:4, 40). In what Jesus said and did, He sought to strengthen the faith of three groups of people.

1. AN ENEMY REMEMBERED - THE DISCIPLES TAUGHT (11:1-16) 

We sometimes think of the disciples as "supersaints," but such was not the case. They often failed their Lord, and He was constandly seeking to increase their faith. After all, one day He would leave them, and they would have the responsibility of carrying on the ministry. If their faith was weak, their work could never be strong.

Jesus was at Bethabara, about twenty miles from Bethany John 1:28;

10:40). One day, a messenger arrived with the sad news that our Lord's dear friend Lazarus was sick. If the man had traveled quickly, without any delay, he could have made the trip in one day. Jesus sent him back the next day with the encouraging message recorded in John 11:4. Then Jesus waited two more days before He left for Bethany, and by the time He and His disciples arrived, Lazarus had been dead for four days. This means that Lazarus had died the very day the messenger left to contact Jesus!

The schedule of events would look something like this, allowing one day for travel:

Day 1-The messenger comes to Jesus (Lazarus dies).

Day 2-The messenger returns to Bethany.

Day 3-Jesus waits another day, then departs.

Day 4 Jesus arrives in Bethany.

When the messenger arrived back home, he would find Lazarus already dead. What would his message convey to the grieving sisters now that their brother was already dead and buried? Jesus was urging them to believe His word no matter how discouraging the circumstances might appear.

No doubt the disciples were perplexed about several matters. First of all, if Jesus loved Lazarus so much, why did He permit him to get sick?

Even more, why did He delay to go to the sisters? For that matter, could He not have healed Lazarus at a distance, as He did the nobleman's son John 4:43-54)? The record makes it clear that there was a strong love relationship between Jesus and this family (John 11:3, 5, 36), and yet our Lord's behavior seems to contradict this love.

God's love for His own is not a pampering love; it is a perfecting love.

The fact that He loves us and we love Him is no guarantee that we will be sheltered from the problems and pains of life. After all, the Father loves His Son, and yet the Father permitted His beloved Son to drink the cup of sorrow and experience the shame and pain of the cross. We must never think that love and suffering are incompatible. Certainly they unite in Jesus Christ.

Jesus could have prevented Lazarus's sickness or even healed it from where He was, but He chose not to. He saw in this sickness an opportunity to glorify the Father. It is not important that we Christians are comfortable, but it is important that we glorify God in all that we do.

In their "prayer" to Jesus, the two sisters did not tell Him what to do.

They simply informed Him that there was a need, and they reminded Him of His love for Lazarus. They knew that it was dangerous for Jesus to return to Judea because the Jewish leaders were out to destroy Him. Perhaps they hoped that He would "speak the word" and that their brother would be restored to health.

Our Lord's message to the sisters did not say that their brother would not die. It promised only that death would not be the ultimate result, for the ultimate result would be the glory of God. (Note that once again, Jesus called Himself "the Son of God.") He wanted them to lay hold of this promise; in fact, He reminded Martha of this message when she balked at having the tomb opened (John 11:40).

When we find ourselves confronted by disease, disappointment, delay, and even death, our only encouragement is the Word of God. We must live by faith and not by sight. Their situation seemed hopeless, yet the sisters knew that Jesus was the Master of every situation. The promise in Psalm

50:15 finds a parallel here: "And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me."

What about our Lord's delay? He was not waiting for Lazarus to die, for he was already dead. Jesus lived on a divine timetable (John 11:9), and He was waiting for the Father to tell Him when to go to Bethany. The fact that the man had been dead four days gave greater authenticity to the miracle and greater opportunity for people to believe, including His own disciples (see John 11:15).

When our Lord announced that He was returning to Judea, His disciples were alarmed, because they knew how dangerous it would be. (Bethany is only about two miles from Jerusalem.) But Jesus was willing to lay down His life for His friends (John 15:13). He knew that His return to Judea and the miracle of raising Lazarus would precipitate His own arrest and death.

2. AN EXPRESSED REVELATION

Jesus was concerned not only about the faith of His own disciples, but also about the faith of Mary and Martha (John 11:26, 40). Each experience of suffering and trial ought to increase our faith, but this kind of spiritual growth is not automatic. We must respond positively to the ministry of the Word and the Spirit of God. Jesus had sent a promise to the two sisters John 11:4), and now He would discover how they had received it.

The event recorded in Luke 10:38-42 makes it clear that Mary and Martha were quite different in their personalities. Martha was the worker, the active one, while Mary was the contemplative one who sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to His words. Jesus did not condemn Martha's service, but He did rebuke her for being "torn apart" by so many things. She needed to have priorities and center her activities on the things that God would approve.

Our Lord's reply is the fifth of the "I am" statements. It is important to note that Jesus did not deny what Martha said about the future res-urrection. The resurrection of the human body is a cardinal doctrine in the orthodox Jewish faith. But in His great "I am" statement, our Lord completely transformed the doctrine of the resurrection and, in so doing, brought great comfort to Martha's heart.

To begin with, He brought the doctrine of the resurrection out of the shadows and into the light. The Old Testament revelation about death and resurrection is not clear or complete; it is, as it were, "in the shadows." In fact, there are some passages in Psalms and Ecclesiastes that almost make one believe that death is the end and there is no hope beyond the grave.

False teachers like to use these passages to support their heretical teachings, but they ignore (or misinterpret) the clear teachings found in the New Testament. After all, it was not David or Solomon who "brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Tim. 1:10), but Jesus Christ!

By His teaching, His miracles. and His own resurrection. Jesus clearly taught the resurrection of the human body. He has declared once for all that death is real, that there is life after death, and that the body will one day be raised by the power of God.

He transformed this doctrine in a second way: He took it out of a book and put it into a person, Himself. "I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25)! While we thank God for what the Bible teaches (and all Martha had was the Old Testament), we realize that we are saved by the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, and not by a doctrine written in a book. When we know Him by faith, we need not fear the shadow of death.

When you are sick, you want a doctor and not a medical book or a formula. When you are being sued, you want a lawyer and not a law book.

Likewise, when you face your last enemy, death, you want the Savior and not a doctrine written in a book. In Jesus Christ, every doctrine is made personal (1 Cor. 1:30). When you belong to Him, you have all that you ever will need in life, death, time, or eternity!

Our Lord s weeping reveals the humanity of the savior. te has entered into all of our experiences and knows how we feel. In fact, being the perfect God-man, Jesus experienced these things in a deeper way than we do. His tears also assure us of His sympathy; He is indeed "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" (Isa. 53:3). Today, He is our merciful and faithful High Priest, and we may come to the throne of grace and find all the gracious help that we need (Heb. 4:14-16).

We see in His tears the tragedy of sin but also the glory of heaven.

Perhaps Jesus was weeping for Lazarus, as well as with the sisters, because He knew He was calling His friend from heaven and back into a wicked world where he would one day have to die again. Jesus had come down from heaven; He knew what Lazarus was leaving behind.

The spectators saw in His tears an evidence of His love. But some of them said, "If Jesus loved Lazarus so much, why did He not prevent his death?" Perhaps they were thinking, "Jesus is weeping because He was unable to do anything. They are tears of deep regret." In other words, nobody present really expected a miracle! For this reason, nobody could accuse Jesus of "plotting" this event and being in collusion with the two sisters and their friends. Even the disciples did not believe that Jesus would raise Lazarus from the dead!

The one person who declared her faith was Martha John 11:27), and she failed at the last minute. "Open the tomb? By now he smells! Jesus gently reminded her of the message He had sent at least three days before (John 11:4), and He urged her to believe it. True faith relies on God's promises and thereby releases God's power. Martha relented, and the stone was rolled away.

3 AN EXPERIENCED RESURRECTION

"The experience of Lazarus is a good illustration of what happens to a sinner when he trusts the Savior (Eph. 2:1-10). Lazarus was dead, and all sinners are dead. He was decayed, because death and decay go together. All lost people are spiritually dead, but some are more "decayed" than others.

No one can be "more dead" than another.

Lazarus was raised from the dead by the power of God, and all who trust Christ have been given new life and lifted out of the graveyard of sin (see John 5:24). Lazarus was set free from the graveclothes (see Col. 3: 1ff.) and given new liberty. You find him seated with Christ at the table (John

12:2), and all believers are "seated with Christ" in heavenly places (Eph.

2:6), enjoying spiritual food and fellowship.

Because of the great change in Lazarus, many people desired to see him, and his "living witness" was used by God to bring people to salvation John 12:9-11). There are no recorded words of Lazarus in the Gospels, but his daily walk is enough to convince people that Jesus is the Son of God.

Because of his effective witness, Lazarus was persecuted by the religious leaders who wanted to kill him and get rid of the evidence.

As with the previous miracles, the people were divided in their response. Some did believe and on "Palm Sunday" gave witness of the miracle Jesus had performed (John 12:17-18). But others immediately went to the religious leaders and reported what had happened in Bethany.

These "informers" were so near the kingdom, yet there is no evidence that they believed. If the heart will not yield to truth, then the grace of God cannot bring salvation. These people could have experienced a spiritual resurrection in their own lives!

It was necessary that the Jewish council (Sanhedrin) mect and discuss what to do with Jesus. They were not secking after truth; they were secking for ways to protect their own selfish interests. If He gathered too many followers, He might get the attention of the Roman authorities, and this could hurt the Jewish cause.

The high priest, Caiaphas, was a Sadducee, not a Pharisee (Acts 23:6-10): but the rwo factions could always get together to fight a common enemy.

Unknown to himself and to the council, Caiaphas uttered a divine prophecy:

Jesus would die for the nation so that the nation would not perish. "For the transgression of my people was he stricken" (Isa. 53:8). True to his vision of a worldwide family of God. John added his inspired explanation: Jesus would die not only for the Jews, but for all of God's children who would be gathered together in one heavenly family. (Note John 4:42; 10:16.)

The ofticial decision that day was that Jesus must die (see Matt. 12:14:

Luke 19:47; John 5:18; 7:1, 19-20, 25). The leaders thought that they were in control of the situation, but it was God who was working out His predetermined plan (Acts 2:23). Originally, they wanted to wait until after the Passover, but God had decreed otherwise.

Jesus withdrew to Ephraim, about fifteen miles north of Jerusalem, and there He remained in quiet retirement with His disciples. The crowd was gathering in Jerusalem for the Passover Feast, and the pilgrims were wondering if Jesus would attend the feast even though He was in danger.

He was now on the "wanted" list, because the council had made it known that anyone who knew where Jesus was must report it to the officials.

John 11 reveals the deity of Jesus Christ and the utter depravity of the human heart. The rich man in hades had argued, "If one went unto them from the dead, they will repent" (Luke 16:30). Lazarus came back from the dead, and the officials wanted to kill him! Miracles certainly reveal the power of God, but of themselves they cannot communicate the grace of God.

The stage had been set for the greatest drama in history, during which humanity would do its worst and God would give His best.

Closing Invitation:

And so we are left, as all must be in the end, standing before a tomb. Not necessarily of stone, nor sealed with a Roman mark, but one carefully closed within the heart. For every man carries within him something buried—hope once alive, faith once warm, obedience once prompt, now wrapped and laid aside.

Martha believed in a resurrection at the last day.

Mary believed in a Savior who could have prevented the sorrow.

But Jesus stands between their two confessions and offers something far more searching: “I am the resurrection, and the life.”

Not a doctrine merely to be affirmed, nor an event postponed to the future—but a Person to be trusted now.

It is striking that before Lazarus is raised, a command is given not to the dead man, but to the living: “Take ye away the stone.” Faith must act before sight is granted. The stone was heavy, the cost was real, and the odor of death was certain—but obedience made room for glory. Christ will call the dead to life, but He will not roll away the stone for those unwilling to believe Him.

And then comes that voice—calm, authoritative, unhurried—calling a man four days dead by name. It is the same voice that once said, “Let there be light,” and light obeyed. It is the voice that will one day summon all graves to open. Yet here it speaks to one man, in one village, so that all may know what kind of Lord He is.

If you hear that voice today, do not mistake it for mere sentiment or religious comfort.

It is a summons. To believe where you have delayed. To trust where you have accused. To step forward, still bound perhaps, but alive. Even Lazarus came forth wearing grave clothes—and Christ then commanded the community, “Loose him, and let him go.”

So the invitation is this: Do not linger among the mourners if Christ is calling you to rise. Do not cling to the stone when the Lord of Life is present. Come forth—not because you are strong, but because He is faithful.

For the One who wept at the grave is the same One who conquered it. And He still stands before sealed places, speaking life to all who will hear and believe.